Copyright Statement

Abstract

This review provides a critical appraisal of the measurement of students’ social class and socioeconomic status (SES) in the
context of widening higher education participation. Most assessments of social class and SES in higher education have
focused on objective measurements based on the income, occupation, and education of students’ parents, and they have
tended to overlook diversity among students based on factors such as age, ethnicity, indigeneity, and rurality. However,
recent research in psychology and sociology has stressed the more subjective and intersectional nature of social class. The
authors argue that it is important to consider subjective self-definitions of social class and SES alongside more traditional
objective measures. The implications of this dual measurement approach for higher education research are discussed.